A review of Australian approaches for monitoring,assessing and reporting estuarine condition: I. International context and evaluation criteria

Given the immeasurable value of estuaries and their severe and growing pressures, sound understanding and reporting of estuarine condition is essential for their effective management and sustainable development. In light of this, we aim to provide a timely and comprehensive three-part review of the approaches currently employed for monitoring, assessing and reporting estuarine condition, focussing on Australian systems. Here, in Part 1, we establish the national and international context of our review and define globally-relevant evaluation criteria against which to assess Australian progress. We achieve this by examining effective monitoring, assessment and reporting programs from around the world and characterising ‘best practice’. We then highlight the Australian historical context and consider recent policies, frameworks, guidelines and legislation relating to the monitoring and reporting of estuarine condition nationwide.     

A review of Australian approaches for monitoring,assessing and reporting estuarine condition: II. State and Territory programs

In contrast to Europe, the USA and South Africa, Australia has no specific, overarching federal legislation to underpin a nationally-coordinated framework for monitoring, assessing and reporting estuarine condition. This has resulted in a complex mosaic of diverse approaches and governance structures, hindering the ability to make inter-State comparisons. In this second part of a comprehensive three-part review, we present a systematic appraisal of current and impending approaches for measuring and reporting estuarine condition in each of Australia’s States and Territories. A concise summary is provided in each case, supported by extensive appendices containing detailed accounts of relevant monitoring and reporting programs. We synthesise and evaluate this output at the State/Territory level, highlighting areas of improvement and major gaps.     

Ecosystem services in global sustainability policies

Global sustainability policies, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or the Aichi Targets, aim to ensure sustainable development, including improved human well-being and the conservation of nature. Although not yet explicitly used to evaluate the progress towards sustainable development, the ecosystem service concept implies a direct link between biodiversity and human well-being. This study explores how and which ecosystem services are currently considered in the SDGs and the Aichi Targets. We also identify which information might be already available for monitoring the progress towards their goals by reviewing national ecosystem assessments. This allows the identification of the main knowledge gaps for monitoring progress towards these global sustainability targets.There is a wealth of information on all major ecosystem services categories which is directly relevant for the Aichi Targets and the SDGs. The top 25% most cited ecosystem services across both policy documents are: Natural heritage and diversity, Capture fisheries, Aquaculture, Water purification, Crops, Cultural heritage & diversity and Livestock. Most monitoring information recommended for the global sustainability goals, as well as in the information available from national assessments, is biased towards supply related aspects of ecosystem services flows. In contrast, there is much less information on social behaviour, use, demand and governance measures. Indicators are rarely available for all aspects of a specific ecosystem service.The national statistical bureaus currently in charge of providing observations for reporting on SDGs, could be well placed to address this bias, by integrating ecological observations with socio-economic statistics into socio-ecological indicators for ecosystem services flows. IPBES can potentially address the gaps identified in this paper by improving coverage of the different dimensions of ecosystem services flows.     

From conflicts to wise practice agreement and national strategy: cooperative learning and coastal stewardship in estuarine floodplain management,Tweed River,eastern Australia

Appropriate information, participatory processes and wise practice agreements are key elements in reducing conflicts over the use and management of coastal resources. In this work we describe the evolution of a cooperative learning approach to coastal floodplain management, incorporating these elements. Government-encouraged drainage of coastal floodplains in eastern Australia caused accelerated oxidation of acid sulfate soils and export of diffuse acidic drainage into streams. Major impacts on infrastructure, ecology, fisheries and aquaculture resulted. In the Tweed River estuary, in 1987, all gilled organisms were killed by acid discharge from floodplain canelands. This generated major conflicts between fishers, environmentalists and sugarcane producers. The cooperative learning partnership that evolved, involving cane farmers, local government, and researchers, has produced better strategies for managing sulfidic estuarine areas and mitigating impacts on downstream ecosystems. These underpinned mandatory best practice management guidelines for the NSW sugar industry. Increases in productivity and decreases in acid discharge have resulted. Fish kills on the Tweed and elsewhere also generated broader, parallel whole-of-government approaches that led to Australia's national strategy for managing coastal acid sulfate soils and the rapid adoption of information and strategies across Australia.     

基于陆海统筹的河口区生态环境管理对策研究

坚持陆海统筹,是新时代我国加快海洋强国建设的基本原则和重要内容.在生态环境领域,河口区地处陆海交汇区域,是破解陆海统筹环境管理难题的关键区域.目前,河口区环境监督管理存在管理边界不明确、生态环境监测覆盖面不足、缺乏生态环境评价标准等问题.新形势下,亟需进一步优化完善河口区陆海统筹生态环境管理体系,破除陆海空间界限和行政管理壁垒,优化陆海衔接、海陆协同的污染防治体系,建立陆海一体、区域联动的生态环境管理体系.因此,本文提出河口区陆海统筹生态环境质量监管对策,包括划分河口水体管理单元、建立河口区生态环境评价体系、构建河口水环境基准体系、开展流域-河口-近岸海域污染协同治理、建立信息共享和智慧监管平台等,强化河口区生态系统完整性评估,为推进河口区域联动机制的建立及陆海统筹环境管理提供借鉴.     

Toward a framework of environmental risk management for CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> geological storage in china: gaps and suggestions for future regulations

China encourages the demonstration of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. In an effort to identify gaps and provide suggestions for environmental risk management of carbon dioxide (CO₂) geological storage in China, this article presents a concise overview of potential health, safety and environmental (HSE) risks and environmental management regulations for CO₂ geological storage in Australia, Japan, the United States (USA), the European Union (EU), and the United Kingdom (UK). The environmental impact assessment (EIA) experience of Shenhua Ordos Coal-to-Liquid (CTL) Project and PetroChina Jilin Oil Field enhanced oil recovery (EOR) is subsequently analyzed in light of our field investigation, and gaps in current EIA guidelines that are applicable to CO₂ geological storage projects are identified. It is found that there are no specific environmental risk regulations suitable for CO₂ storage in China, and environmental risk management lags behind the development of CCS technology, which presents a challenge to demonstration enterprises in terms of assessing environmental risk. One major challenge is the overestimation or underestimation of this risk on the part of the enterprise, and another is a lack of applicable regulations for government sectors to supervise the risk throughout CCS projects. Therefore, there is a pressing need for China to formulate environmental management regulations that include environmental risk assessment, mandatory monitoring schemes, environmental emergency plans, and related issues.     

Surveying the state of higher education in energy efficiency,in Australian engineering curriculum

This paper presents the method and results of a survey of 27 of the 33 Australian universities teaching engineering education in late 2007, undertaken by The Natural Edge Project (hosted by Griffith University and the Australian National University) and supported by the National Framework for Energy Efficiency. This survey aimed to ascertain the extent of energy efficiency (EE) education, and to identify preferred methods to assist in increasing the extent to which EE education is embedded in engineering curriculum. In this paper the context for the survey is supported by a summary of the key results from a variety of surveys undertaken over the last decade internationally. The paper concludes that EE education across universities and engineering disciplines in Australia is currently highly variable and ad hoc. Based on the results of the survey; this paper highlights a number of preferred options to support educators to embed sustainability within engineering programs, and future opportunities for monitoring EE, within the context of engineering education for sustainable development (EESD).     

Voluntary Pollution Prevention Programs in New Zealand - An evaluation of practice versus design features

Coordinated voluntary approaches to Pollution Prevention are widely practiced in many western-style economies. However, little empirical research has been undertaken into the extent to which these approaches match best practice pollution prevention approaches. In this paper nine programs employed by five regional and district councils in New Zealand are evaluated against nine ‘Best Practice’ design features. All five councils’ pollution prevention programs contained some of the best practice design features in their program’s design. Perhaps not surprisingly the older programs rank highest out of the five. However, all programs have the potential to develop towards containing all of the ‘best practice’ design features, with most emphasis needed on the credibility of program monitoring. From an ongoing research perspective, and also from an overall PP program performance point of view, the biggest challenge remains the extent and depth that the programs apply each of the design features. As presented they are extremely generic. While generic design features provide for flexibility in implementation, often seen as a positive, they can also be a recipe for ‘tokenism’, something that future researchers and program managers need to be aware of. We also sought to determine if these programs were contributing to sustainable management in New Zealand. Findings in this respect were equivocal. This finding in part is due to the lack of specificity around targets, monitoring and reporting, items needing further attention from managers and researchers.     

Defining core outcomes of reproductive genetic carrier screening: A Delphi survey of Australian and New Zealand stakeholders

Objective

Understanding the value, benefits and harms of health interventions is needed to inform best practice and ensure responsible implementation of new approaches to patient care. Such value is demonstrated through the assessment of outcomes; however, which outcomes are assessed is often highly varied across studies and can hinder the ability to draw robust conclusions. The Core Outcome Development for Carrier Screening study aims to understand the outcomes that can meaningfully capture the value of reproductive genetic carrier screening (RGCS).

Method

The authors report an iterative, two-round online Delphi survey of Australian and New Zealand stakeholders to determine the degree of consensus regarding the core outcomes of RGCS. Panellists ranked 83 outcomes according to their perceived importance on a nine-point Likert scale. Using the distribution of rankings, outcomes were grouped into tiers representative of their perceived level of importance and agreement between groups.

Results

The top tier outcomes represent those agreed to be critically important for all future studies of RGCS to assess and were used to define a preliminary core outcome set encompassing the domains (1) primary laboratory outcomes, (2) pregnancy outcomes, (3) resource use and, (4) perceived utility of RGCS.

Conclusion

These findings can guide the selection of meaningful outcomes in studies aiming to demonstrate the value of RGCS. A future international consensus process will expand on these findings and guide the inclusion of diverse perspectives across the range of settings in which RGCS is offered.     

The classification of lands managed for conservation: existing and proposed frameworks, with particular reference to Australia

Comprehensive classification systems to accurately account for lands managed for biodiversity conservation, are an essential component of conservation planning and policy. The current international classification systems for lands managed for nature conservation are reviewed, with a particular emphasis on Australia. The need for a broader, all-encompassing, categorisation of lands managed for conservation is presented and a proposed broader categorisation system is developed—the Conservation Lands Classification. This classification system has the advantage of incorporating data on both tenure and protection mechanisms and has been applied in this paper using conservation lands in three Australian jurisdictions as examples. It is envisaged that this method of classification has the potential to significantly improve the ability to measure current and future trends in nature conservation across all land types at a variety of scales and hence is put forward in order to stimulate discussion on this important topic.     

Evaluating the environmental performance of a university

An increasing number of organisations are moving towards assessing and reporting their environmental performance in a supply-chain context. Not only are such “footprint”-type assessments seen as more rigorous than sustainability reports created in-house, they also offer more abatement options than assessments limited to an organisation’s premises. Hybrid life-cycle assessment methods combining input-output analysis and process analysis are ideally suited to enumerate organisational footprints, because they were developed to enable overall complete results whilst being application-specific. We apply one of these hybrid methods, the Path Exchange Method to the task of planning for a sustainable campus at the University of Sydney in Australia. We show how this method can be used by an environmental or procurement officer for exploring environmental performance and abatement options across supply chains. We also show how parts of an organisation, for example University faculties, can be assessed and compared against each other. Whilst tools like ones used in this work enable quantitative decision support for procurement and operations policies, it takes staff awareness, engagement and training to successfully put such tools into practice.     

Availability,addiction and alternatives: three criteria for assessing the impact of peak minerals on society

The concept of ‘peaks’ in the production of natural resources has attracted attention in the area of energy production, with concerns about ‘peak oil’ driving recent research and investment in alternative sources of energy. There are fundamental and important differences between a peak in the production of oil and peaks in the production of metalliferous minerals, but in both cases production changes from ‘easier and less expensive’ early in a resource’s life to ‘difficult and expensive’ as time progresses. The impacts of this change in production circumstances require critical consideration in the governance of national and sub-national mineral endowments.This paper develops a framework for evaluating the impacts of changing patterns of mineral production. The framework considers three criteria: availability of a resource (considering its geological characteristics and geographical distribution); society’s addiction to the resource (its centrality and criticality to economic, social and environmental systems); and the possibility of finding alternatives (whether the resource can be substituted or recovered). An initial assessment against these criteria provides an overview of how a production peak might affect the production of minerals in Australia and the impacts that this might have on the Australian economy.Assessing important resources against these three criteria will be imperative in future considerations regarding the roles minerals and metals play as service providers in our economic, social and environmental systems. Additionally, this analysis should prompt a reassessment of the value of minerals beyond economic measures. Indicators derived from these criteria will inform strategies that can address future changes in production characteristics – meeting challenges with strong governance, and realising opportunities with proactive policy.     

Inclusion of sex chromosomes in noninvasive prenatal testing in Asia,Australia, Europe and the USA: A survey study

Objective

To examine the extent to which sex chromosomes are included in current noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and the reporting practices with respect to fetal chromosomal sex and sex chromosome aberrations (SCAs), in addition to an update on the general implementation of NIPT.

Method

A questionnaire addressing the research objectives was distributed by email to fetal medicine and clinical genetics experts in Asia, Australia, Europe and the USA.

Results

Guidelines on NIPT are available in the majority of the included countries. Not all existing guidelines address reporting of fetal chromosomal sex and SCAs. In most settings, NIPT frequently includes sex chromosomes (five Australian states, China, Hong Kong, Israel, Singapore, Thailand, USA and 23 of 31 European countries). This occurs most often by default or when parents wish to know fetal sex. In most settings, a potential SCA is reported by stating the risk hereof as “low” or “high” and/or by naming the SCA. Less than 50% of all pregnant women receive NIPT according to respondents from three Australian states, China, Israel, Singapore, Thailand and 24 of 31 European countries. However, this percentage, the genomic coverage of NIPT and its application as primary or secondary screening vary by setting.

Conclusion

In most of the studied countries/states, NIPT commonly includes sex chromosomes. The reporting practices concerning fetal chromosomal sex and SCAs are diverse and most commonly not addressed by guidelines. In general, NIPT is variably implemented across countries/states.     

Motivations and barriers for Western Australian broad-acre farmers to adopt carbon farming

Carbon farming policies aim to contribute to climate change mitigation, but their success strongly depends on whether landholders actually adopt desired practices or participate in offered programs. The Australian Government’s Carbon Farming Initiative and Emissions Reduction Fund policies were designed to incentivise the adoption of carbon farming practices. Although these policies have been active since December 2011, farmer engagement has been limited, and net emissions reductions low as a result. We surveyed broad-acre farmers in the Western Australian wheatbelt to explore their drivers and barriers to adopting carbon farming practices and participating in carbon farming policy programs. Drivers of adoption included knowledge and perception of co-benefits (for yield, productivity, and the environment), knowing another adopter, and believing that changes to farm management are an appropriate method to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. Barriers to adoption included lack of information, uncertainty and costs. The key barrier to participation was policy and political uncertainty. The determinants of adoption and participation that we identify in our study offer important insights into how to best ensure the success of Australia’s land sector-based climate change policies. We conclude that, to increase landholder engagement, the co-benefits and climate change benefits of carbon farming practices must be actively promoted, and additional information is needed about the costs associated with adoption. Information diffusion is best achieved if it actively leverages landholder social networks. Finally, our results indicate that landholder buy-in to carbon farming could be greatly enhanced by achieving more continuity in Australian climate change policies and politics.     

中国反食物浪费监测与评估体系建设

《中华人民共和国反食品浪费法》的颁布与实施,标志着中国的食物浪费从理论研究转向实践应用。为了推动食物浪费的减量,亟需构建覆盖全国的、系统性的监测和评估体系并实现食物浪费的定量监测与评估。本文面向《中华人民共和国反食品浪费法》实施过程政府及社会中各界的主要关切,通过系统梳理国内外食物浪费的相关研究,辨析了食物浪费的定义及主要演变,论述了全球食物浪费监测与评估情况。在此基础上,本文重点分析了中国食物浪费监测与评估进展,提出了通过餐厨垃圾,将食物浪费从传统概念向广义概念延伸的理念,并提出了适合中国国情的反食品浪费监测与评估指标。本文旨在为中国相关政府部门开展食物浪费的监测和评估提供科学参考,从而为全球可持续发展目标12.3的实现提供借鉴。     

Product-Service Systems: reviewing achievements and refining the research agenda

This special issue on Product-Service Systems: reviewing achievements and refining the research agenda shows the progress that has been made in the PSS field in the last decade, including various national and international research projects and companies' initiatives, important achievements and gaps at theoretical and practical levels. Most of the papers can be of interest to practitioners, company managers and consultants, since they present methods and tools for helping companies to shift towards PSS in environmentally sound ways and to evaluate the outcomes of the shift. In addition, this issue can be of interest to the research community since it evaluates the progress in the PSS field and outlines a future research agenda.     

Analysis of differences between national inventories and an Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR)

A comparison is made of national greenhouse gas inventories for the Climate Convention, (including US country study results) and an emissions database for global atmospheric research (EDGAR). The comparison pointed to some gaps in reporting and some large differences within sectors. In most cases the differences can be traced down to the use of different emission factors or the use of national statistics that differed from the internationally available ones. Comparison of inventories may stimulate the scientific exchange of data and increase the consensus on emissions. This comparison of semi-independent databases may therefore reduce uncertainties in emissions estimates. The exercise illustrated the usefulness of standard reporting formats and the availability of background information other than the official National Communications to the Climate Convention. The comparison may lead to major revisions of officially reported methane emissions in several countries.     

Assessing inundation damage and timing of adaptation: sea level rise and the complexities of land use in coastal communities

Climate change exacerbates the public policy challenges already present in managing contested landscapes. Coastal managers deal with multiple stressors and multiple stakeholders and have a difficult challenge in managing competing land use as sea level rise (SLR) reduces the amount of prized coastal land. The information needed to inform on the type and timing of adaptation strategies reflects a major gap in the planning and implementation of adaptation options. We present here an inundation risk assessment framework (IRAF) for estimating the impacts of increasing SLR inundation extent probabilities and the cost of inundation damage through time for public and private infrastructure assets. The framework integrates the cost of damage across asset classes in order to help decision-makers judge the economic utility of various adaptation options and the timing of implementation. We provide an example of this methodology using a case study from Southeast Australia in a low lying estuarine region with an increasingly urbanized population. The methodology shows a clear pathway in which to integrate multiple asset classes into a temporally based damage cost analysis. Such methodology will help address the timing of adaptation and allow for the development of trigger points to guide adaptation planning. Thus, the framework developed in this paper can be easily transferred to other regions and countries facing the same types of SLR risks. As SLR and inundation encroachment continue to occur, decisions regarding protection, repair, and retreat will be made depending on the resources available to local governments. The challenge is to balance decision making with both the timing of implementation as well as costs (both of action and inaction). By understanding the areas of land lost to inundation and the cost of inaction through time, local governments can assess the rationality of adaptation at points in the present and future.     

Implementing REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation): evidence on governance,evaluation and impacts from the REDD-ALERT project

The REDD-ALERT (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation from Alternative Land Uses in the Rainforests of the Tropics) project started in 2009 and finished in 2012, and had the aim of evaluating mechanisms that translate international-level agreements into instruments that would help change the behaviour of land users while minimising adverse repercussions on their livelihoods. Findings showed that some developing tropical countries have recently been through a forest transition, thus shifting from declining to expanding forests at a national scale. However, in most of these (e.g. Vietnam), a significant part of the recent increase in national forest cover is associated with an increase in importation of food and timber products from abroad, representing leakage of carbon stocks across international borders. Avoiding deforestation and restoring forests will require a mixture of regulatory approaches, emerging market-based instruments, suasive options, and hybrid management measures. Policy analysis and modelling work showed the high degree of complexity at local levels and highlighted the need to take this heterogeneity into account—it is unlikely that there will be a one size fits all approach to make Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) work. Significant progress was made in the quantification of carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes following land-use change in the tropics, contributing to narrower confidence intervals on peat-based emissions and their reporting standards. There are indications that there is only a short and relatively small window of opportunity of making REDD+ work—these included the fact that forest-related emissions as a fraction of total global GHG emissions have been decreasing over time due to the increase in fossil fuel emissions, and that the cost efficiency of REDD+ may be much less than originally thought due to the need to factor in safeguard costs, transaction costs and monitoring costs. Nevertheless, REDD+ has raised global awareness of the world’s forests and the factors affecting them, and future developments should contribute to the emergence of new landscape-based approaches to protecting a wider range of ecosystem services.